eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,556
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Alex - On slight diversion - you mention the alloys on the transit being a pain to keep clean - do you wax them at all - if not try it - its worth the effort - the brake dust just falls off when you come to wash them Hi Chris, No, I've never waxed them. From the start there was some...it seems burn in of brake dust? So as they were never perfectly clean I never waxed them. I did wash them with a meguiers shampoo that I find very nice to use. If I could get rid of the brown sheen I'd love to wax them afterwards! |
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Alex - On slight diversion - you mention the alloys on the transit being a pain to keep clean - do you wax them at all - if not try it - its worth the effort - the brake dust just falls off when you come to wash them Hi Chris, No, I've never waxed them. From the start there was some...it seems burn in of brake dust? So as they were never perfectly clean I never waxed them. I did wash them with a meguiers shampoo that I find very nice to use. If I could get rid of the brown sheen I'd love to wax them afterwards! Alex - Apologies I have just made the job larger for you  - spirit or panel wipe will remove any grease / tar spots etc from the wheels - then use a good quality automotive paint polishing compound to remove the brake dust staining - then apply the wax  |
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Alex I have recently started using this Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel Cleaner after some one from here recommended it as I wanted to keep the alloys on the ST clean and to put some wax on the freshly powder coated rims, I have to say it's great stuff and as with a lot of Built Hamber products it has a rust inhibitor built in to the chemical that does not get washed away, it's safe to use on steel rims as well. |
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Last Edit: Apr 6, 2020 16:50:26 GMT by peteh1969
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Rhubarb juice (from Rhubarb sticks) is excellent for removing black brake deposits.
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,556
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Hi Chris, No, I've never waxed them. From the start there was some...it seems burn in of brake dust? So as they were never perfectly clean I never waxed them. I did wash them with a meguiers shampoo that I find very nice to use. If I could get rid of the brown sheen I'd love to wax them afterwards! Alex - Apologies I have just made the job larger for you - spirit or panel wipe will remove any grease / tar spots etc from the wheels - then use a good quality automotive paint polishing compound to remove the brake dust staining - then apply the wax No apologies necessary!! It's a job I have wanted to do for a long time, removing the wheels, cleaning the back sides as well and getting rid of ALL brake dust sheen. It just seems some of it has fused with the wheels. I've got (white) spirit recently. A gentle meguiars polishing compound is also available (may not be as effective as your 3m product range) as well as a meguiars carnuba based wax. I'll see tonight if I can do a test patch on some of the worst bits... Thanks for the advice! |
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,556
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Alex I have recently started using this Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel Cleaner after some one from here recommended it as I wanted to keep the alloys on the ST clean and to put some wax on the freshly powder coated rims, I have to say it's great stuff and as with a lot of Built Hamber products it has a rust inhibitor built in to the chemical that does not get washed away, it's safe to use on steel rims as well. As a dutchman built hamber products aren't readily available. At least I never found them locally, only via specialist online suppliers. The general wheel cleaner sprays I have used in the past always left that hardcore stuf behind. That's why I feel it has fused with the paint on the wheels. But I'll try GN's tips soon to see if an improvement can be made. |
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,556
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Rhubarb juice (from Rhubarb sticks) is excellent for removing black brake deposits. Who'd have known! One more thing to try if need be! Thanks |
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,062 
Club RR Member Number: 77
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If you are removing the wheels to clean them, I've seen Dragons Breath have very good results removing all the carp on wheels.
And doesn't eat the paint either, although it does need to be in a well ventilated area when used as it really does pong!
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Rhubarb juice (from Rhubarb sticks) is excellent for removing black brake deposits. Who'd have known! One more thing to try if need be! Thanks Told to me by an industrial chemist, London Underground clean the brake dust off the trains with ground walnut shells and rhubarb acid in a pressure washer. |
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Eco friendly!
Providing you can find enough rhubarb!
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Eco friendly! Providing you can find enough rhubarb! You can have my share - I can't stand the stuff  |
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,556
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So here I am again... Said I'd try out GN's tips on my Tranny rims and I did... Got a little side tracked immediately after work ended though (working the afternoons from homem meant no travel). So I did this first:    Still a lot to go but the grey paint is done. Need to buy some more. Thankfully a lot of the other paint needs to be white and I've got 30m2 worth of that to get me started! But car related... I started a test on one of the front wheels on the tranny. Began with: Typical dirt left after a good wash  Cleaned with spirit and polished lightly. Cleaned up, much more shine and smoothness but still specs  Another typical section after polish  Close up  So definitely an improvement, but I'd like them even cleaner... |
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What you need on them wheels is to give them a good hit with a fallout remover and tar remover to get all bonded contaminants off the surface and them properly clean
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,556
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On a Granada note, I think I just found my strange noise....
I did a little test run around the block as I needed the car out of the garage...
Again the sound was there. In reverse it wasn't in forward drive it was... both stationary and driving. But stationary it was coming and going.
Looking under the bonnet, nothing. Prop shaft, not a likely suspect with the noise there and the car standing still......
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Turns out the exhaust clamp was hitting on the gear box support!!
No clue why this is only now an issue, but maybe it got caught and moved about a bit. It looks a little worse for wear. They are the lowest point on the car.
So this will probably be an easy fix and means that the engine and drive train in general seem to work as they should.
Does mean I won't be taking it to work tomorrow which was kind of why I did the test... but my mind is somewhat more at ease!
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Simpler if you just remove the exhaust from the downpipe back, then.
Trouble free motoring!
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,556
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Apr 17, 2020 19:02:10 GMT
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So I fixed the exhaust hitting parts of the car tonight. On the test run made a new friend in my neighbourhood with a VW beetle and confirmed no more nasty noises!!
Car finally feels solid all round. Hope I've not jinxed it now...
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Apr 17, 2020 19:31:35 GMT
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Rhubarb juice (from Rhubarb sticks) is excellent for removing black brake deposits. That’s actually quite an interesting one 😊. Rhubarb has got a lot of oxalic acid in it. Why would that be interesting then? Ever heard our American cousins talking about putting antifreeze in a crockpot* and chucking gummed up parts in it to clean? Antifreeze contains Ethylene glycol and that contains or can synthesise into oxalic acid. So that’s obviously the cleaning compound in both. *crockpot is like a slow cooker.... |
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Last Edit: Apr 17, 2020 19:32:01 GMT by Deleted
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Mmm rhubarb pie..
Glad to hear exhaust is sorted and was relatively simple!
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,556
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Having worked on the noise coming from the car, I had basically run around the block and parked up. But this short run with no strange noises anymore finally instilled a feeling of the car being up to it's job. Being ready for use. So with some trepidation I decided to take it for a drive yesterday. I combined a 2m social distancing visit to my parents to swap their outdoor tap with the need to start shaking down the car. The trepidation soon made way for joy. The car ran nicely, braked nicely, no noises coming from places they shouldn't. Well apart from a little vibration noise possibly from the door mirror on the passenger side that is. But that at least was no noise for concern. I had the radio off so I could listen to the car and it just was nice. Very nice. Went to fill it up as the gauge was showing as empty, but I could only add half a tank. The gauges showed that normal operating temp for this engine shows as borderline between cold and warm. But I didn't encounter traffic so I don't know how high it would creep before the fans kick in just yet. The oil pressure was 3/4 up there when "cold". Dropping to half way up on warm idle, rising to 3/4 again when above idle. So that's good to see visually now as well. So that leaves the ammeter, but it's not super important and will wait for another day. Driving again, confidence went up. It drives like a modern car. Slightly more noisy I guess, but not much. The changes I made, the things I did lately seemed to have nicely put the finishing touches on so to speak. Most noticebly I think is the prop shaft change and the transmission tunnel gaiter/cover! The droning noise that was present at above 80km/h speeds is now gone. There's also no nasty warmed up old engine oil smell in the car now. A vast improvement for quality of life inside the car. Now it's mostly the exhaust that is heard. The diff is even very quiet too, although very faintly I do think I hear it doing its thing. The main thing left now is the exhaust which is loud. With some other noises now gone it didn't feel overly loud. But there is a raspy sound ever since a backfire (on the not so good first cosworth engine) happened. For now it'll do and have to do. But next year I might take it to the pro's to make something up... I took it up to 120 km/h for a bit and it was better then ever before. All felt very solid. I think it was a 15-20km drive one way so 30-40 total. Most I've driven it for a loooong time. With the tank now full, there's no real reason not to start enjoying it more. A longer testdrive should now be on the cards. For a longer drive, there's still the matter of the wheel bearings too fresh in my head, but you've got to let go a bit I guess. There's always the ANWB (AAA) to take me and the car home should things go wrong. The car looked like this at my parents:   On the way back I dared put on the radio and really enjoyed the drive home. It felt as worry free as taking the daily. I guess that's good sign. Now to muster the courage to take it on a longer drive! |
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Super glad you're enjoying it and gaining confidence! And just think, a couple of posts ago you were really bummed about it all. Even if motivation is low, being able to get out and drive them (even just around the block) is a huge boost I find. I haven't driven mine in ages, but had to when I moved houses recently, and just that short drive made me miss driving it properly and made me go out for another blast a few days later, despite leaving transmission oil all over the place... |
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- spirit or panel wipe will remove any grease / tar spots etc from the wheels - then use a good quality automotive paint polishing compound to remove the brake dust staining - then apply the wax 
